Read Online Forgetting Popper (Los Rancheros #3) by Brandace Morrow - Free Book Online
Authors: Brandace Morrow
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next?”
I shake my head. “No. I’m sorry it took me so
long to get here. I’m sorry you’re not someplace nicer. I really
thought things were different.”
Mom sits down on her bed. “What, you got out
of the trailer park and tucked us away all neat like, just like you
wanted, didn’t you? Don’t even visit, don’t write.” She fists her
hands together tightly and punctuates words with hits to her
lap.
“I’m—” Shit, I’ve already said I’m sorry more
than I have in my entire life. “Brian said he had it under control.
That you were cared for.” I want to roll my eyes at the lame
excuse.
“Brian!” Dad yells, making me jump. “Where is
my boy? He brings the good stuff. Are you his chickie, then?”
Mom leans over and yells back to him, “She’s
your daughter. It’s Sadie!”
“Sadie?” His face scrunches up in confusion.
“I don’t believe I know a Sadie.” He focuses his eyes back on me.
“But you’re a looker. Can’t be mine.”
A part of me wishes he was just mad that I
wasn’t there all of these years. But another part of me cringes at
his words.
“Do you need money, child?” Mom asks.
“No.” I shake my head. “No. I’m going to move
you into a nicer place, and I’ll visit more. Is there anything you
need? Something I can get you?”
“We don’t need your fancy places and your
California. We’ll stay here,” Mom says forcefully.
“Yeah. We don’t need you,” Dad says with a
nod, his whole face looks like it will slide off of his body with
the movement.
“Are you really upset that I got out of the
park, Mom?” I ask quietly as blood rushes through my ears.
Her throat constricts when she swallows. “No,
Sadie. I’m not mad, just disappointed, is all.”
Fucking disappointment, that’s all I bring
people around me. I shaped my life so that no one expected things
of me. Now it’s happening left and right. I take a steadying breath
and try again. “Do you want me to paint your nails?”
Mom purses her lips and studies me. “Well, I
guess that might be alright. Just make sure you do it right. I
don’t need to look like that harlot Farah.”
I freeze with my hand in the black hole that
is my purse. “Farah?”
She tilts her head at the door. “At the front
desk. Farah.”
That my brother and sister put my parents
into a home where the woman that ruined our lives works makes me so
mad my vision flips to red. Literally, I see red and try to blink
it away. The woman at the front desk is the reason we landed in the
trailer park. Dad is silent, his eyes unfocused as he stares at the
wall.
“Which color do you want?”
When I leave an hour later and meet the eyes
of the receptionist, hers hold enough fear that I know she knows
who I am, and what I can do. I don’t say anything, walking through
the automatic doors and into the cold. Flurries hit my bare arms
and melt into stinging little bites as I make my way to the
car.
Farah Devoroh slept with her husband’s
subordinate to get back at him over a petty argument. Things may
have been okay if she didn’t advertise it to the world. She didn’t
think about that man’s family, or that he was set to retire in a
few months. The captain of the police department has reach, and we
learned it quickly. A routine traffic stop on a bogus infraction
turned into planted oxy and cost him his pension. Hell, he was more
at fault than she was. But he turned bitter, especially when they
lost the house and no one would hire him. I came along after the
affair, a completely unwanted surprise when they could barely
afford to feed the two kids they already had. Poor turned into dirt
poor and no one has stopped holding grudges.
Mom had worked three shit jobs at places
that other cops frequented. Some were nice and left big tips. Some,
none at all. Dad turned to drinking and let her do it. She let him
sit on his ass through it all. I never got that. At least old Farah
didn’t seem to be faring so well either. It fires
I shake my head. “No. I’m sorry it took me so
long to get here. I’m sorry you’re not someplace nicer. I really
thought things were different.”
Mom sits down on her bed. “What, you got out
of the trailer park and tucked us away all neat like, just like you
wanted, didn’t you? Don’t even visit, don’t write.” She fists her
hands together tightly and punctuates words with hits to her
lap.
“I’m—” Shit, I’ve already said I’m sorry more
than I have in my entire life. “Brian said he had it under control.
That you were cared for.” I want to roll my eyes at the lame
excuse.
“Brian!” Dad yells, making me jump. “Where is
my boy? He brings the good stuff. Are you his chickie, then?”
Mom leans over and yells back to him, “She’s
your daughter. It’s Sadie!”
“Sadie?” His face scrunches up in confusion.
“I don’t believe I know a Sadie.” He focuses his eyes back on me.
“But you’re a looker. Can’t be mine.”
A part of me wishes he was just mad that I
wasn’t there all of these years. But another part of me cringes at
his words.
“Do you need money, child?” Mom asks.
“No.” I shake my head. “No. I’m going to move
you into a nicer place, and I’ll visit more. Is there anything you
need? Something I can get you?”
“We don’t need your fancy places and your
California. We’ll stay here,” Mom says forcefully.
“Yeah. We don’t need you,” Dad says with a
nod, his whole face looks like it will slide off of his body with
the movement.
“Are you really upset that I got out of the
park, Mom?” I ask quietly as blood rushes through my ears.
Her throat constricts when she swallows. “No,
Sadie. I’m not mad, just disappointed, is all.”
Fucking disappointment, that’s all I bring
people around me. I shaped my life so that no one expected things
of me. Now it’s happening left and right. I take a steadying breath
and try again. “Do you want me to paint your nails?”
Mom purses her lips and studies me. “Well, I
guess that might be alright. Just make sure you do it right. I
don’t need to look like that harlot Farah.”
I freeze with my hand in the black hole that
is my purse. “Farah?”
She tilts her head at the door. “At the front
desk. Farah.”
That my brother and sister put my parents
into a home where the woman that ruined our lives works makes me so
mad my vision flips to red. Literally, I see red and try to blink
it away. The woman at the front desk is the reason we landed in the
trailer park. Dad is silent, his eyes unfocused as he stares at the
wall.
“Which color do you want?”
When I leave an hour later and meet the eyes
of the receptionist, hers hold enough fear that I know she knows
who I am, and what I can do. I don’t say anything, walking through
the automatic doors and into the cold. Flurries hit my bare arms
and melt into stinging little bites as I make my way to the
car.
Farah Devoroh slept with her husband’s
subordinate to get back at him over a petty argument. Things may
have been okay if she didn’t advertise it to the world. She didn’t
think about that man’s family, or that he was set to retire in a
few months. The captain of the police department has reach, and we
learned it quickly. A routine traffic stop on a bogus infraction
turned into planted oxy and cost him his pension. Hell, he was more
at fault than she was. But he turned bitter, especially when they
lost the house and no one would hire him. I came along after the
affair, a completely unwanted surprise when they could barely
afford to feed the two kids they already had. Poor turned into dirt
poor and no one has stopped holding grudges.
Mom had worked three shit jobs at places
that other cops frequented. Some were nice and left big tips. Some,
none at all. Dad turned to drinking and let her do it. She let him
sit on his ass through it all. I never got that. At least old Farah
didn’t seem to be faring so well either. It fires
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